


They Will Seek You Out

by emperyal_miasma



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: A lot of fucked up shit honestly, F/F, Gore, Horror, Incest, Supernatural Shenanigans, Violence, i'll update these as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-07-22 15:05:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7443751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emperyal_miasma/pseuds/emperyal_miasma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fanfic focusing on Rita and Morticia because they need more stories, honestly.</p>
<p>AU where every girl in the Sanchez/Smith lineage is bestowed with the 'Gift' on their sixteenth birthday. This gift grants them the ability to see and interact with ghosts, spirits, demons, and all manner of supernatural beings. After a year the Gift transforms into something less intense. All they have to do is just survive the psychological onslaught. However, in Morticia's case she isn't just a bystander to their existence - she is sought out and forced to aid them. If she refuses the Gift will never manifest into something tamer and she will be plagued with this clairvoyance for the rest of her life. </p>
<p>Straight up, I have no idea where this is gonna go but hopefully it's an entertaining ride!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "Just Don't Think About It."

A heavy sigh billowed past her lips as she swung her feet over the side of her messy bed and stepped across the dark room to reach her lamp. She fumbled blindly for a second before grabbing onto the plastic chain and she yanked it once for the lowest setting. The light it cast was a low pink courtesy of the shade atop the bulb and it bathed her bedroom in an almost peaceful glow. Her tired eyes blearily adjusted and she stifled a huge yawn as she turned and started rifling through the contents atop her desk. 

“Please work,” she muttered to no one as she found the bottle of night-time cold pills and unscrewed the top. She popped two pills into her mouth and washed them down with a swig of lukewarm water from the glass she had brought up maybe two, three days ago? She couldn’t remember. The cleanliness of her room had declined the past couple of weeks because she was too distracted and out of it to focus on something for more than five minutes. 

Morticia finished the rest of the stale water and burped gently as she placed the cup back on her messy desk. With a forehead throbbing from need to sleep and bones that ached from weariness she turned off the lamp and climbed back into bed. She burrowed her way back down into her usual cocoon of blankets and stuffed animals and groped around in the darkness for her 3DS. She knew it was in there somewhere - she had been playing it a few hours earlier before she had made a futile attempt to sleep. She let out a small cheer of triumph when her fingers finally brushed the plastic and she rolled onto her back and returned to her game of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. 

It was 4AM in her virtual town, just like it was in her reality. All of her villagers were asleep and the shops were closed and there wasn’t much for her to do except wander aimlessly around and catch whatever bugs or fish were milling about. For a split second she thought about changing the time on her system but as soon as the idea had formed her brain shot it down immediately. No, she didn’t want it to be tomorrow yet, even though it already was. She didn’t want her villagers to awaken because they would throw her a birthday party. And that was something she didn’t want to face in her game or in the real world.

She was turning sixteen in a little over ten hours.

Morticia gritted her teeth at the realization and felt her grip on her 3DS tighten. Her stomach and intestines were twisting themselves about as if trying to form macabre balloon animals and her heart was thudding painfully against its ivory cage. The headache that was already pulling apart her temples intensified and she willed desperately for the sleeping aid in the cold pills to start working already.

She had been dreading this day for six years and she just wasn’t ready to face it yet.

The clicking sound of her door opening and her overhead light being flicked on startled her and she poked her head up above the covers to see who was there. Not to her surprise her grandmother Rita was standing in the threshold with an odd expression on her tired face and her own 3DS clutched tightly in her left hand. She was dressed in an old black band t-shirt and rumpled gray plaid pajama bottoms and her brilliant blue hair was spiked up in random places.

“I-I figured you’d still be awake,” Rita said as she took a step inside and shut the door behind her. “Thought that you...thought you might be worried about tomorrow.”

“You mean today?” Morticia corrected her, voice flat. “Yeah I’m n-not happy about it or anything but...w-w-what am I supposed to do? G-gotta grin and bear it, y’know?”

“You could just not think about it.”

“That’s your advice for e-everything!”

“It works, Morti! It’s a-a-a tried and true method!”

“Oh geez,” Morticia grumbled as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. “So is that w-why you’re in here? To make me feel even w-worse?”

“Really Morti? I-I know I’m a bitch, but that...that’s low, even for me,” Rita snapped at her and glared bright turquoise eyes rimmed in dark circles at her granddaughter. She shuffled a little from her spot at the foot of the bed before divulging the real reason she had dragged herself out of bed this early in the morning. “I just came to check on you, that’s all. Y-y-you’ve been losing your shit about your birthday all month. Thought maybe you’d want some company o-or something, I don’t know.”

Morticia felt gentle flames blossom to life in her cheeks and she couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. It was rare for her grandmother to show her any sort of affection but it was more than welcome and appreciated. She nodded and patted the empty bed beside her. Rita clicked the light off and, using the soft glow from her 3DS, climbed into bed and laid back against the pillows beside her granddaughter.

“Y-you’re gonna get through this, Morti,” Rita told her in a hushed voice after a few minutes of playing Animal Crossing with her in silence. “I-I got through it, your mom got through it, hell - even S-Summer survived it. You’ll be just fine. Just try not to think about it so much.”

“I’m not strong like them, though,” Morticia protested as she set the game down on her stomach and stared into the darkness. Unconsciously she started chewing on her bottom lip as she usually did in times of distress. 

“Really, M-Morti? R-really? You’re not strong?”

“Well…”

“For s-shit’s s-sake M-OOUuugghh-rti, I’ve dragged you through hell and b-back across the multiverse almost every day for the past two years, and you d-don’t think you’re strong?”

“...not strong enough to handle this…”

“Shut up, M-Morti. You’re a thousand times stronger than you think you are,” Rita insisted before belching again. She wiped away the flecks of drool from her chapped lips with the back of her hand and then reached over and tangled her thin fingers in her granddaughter's thick chestnut curls. “Y-you’re gonna be just...just fine, M-Morti. I’m gonna be right here - right by your side, a-allllll day.”

“Thanks, grandma Rita,” Morticia said quietly and relaxed a little as her grandmother’s bony fingers absent-mindedly massaged her scalp. 

“D-don’t even trip, dawg!”

They both snickered at the phrase and settled back into a comfortable silence interrupted every so often with giggles and comments about the game. Neither of them were sure when they finally fell asleep but it was past sunrise. By the time they were floating deep within the abyss of slumber the early morning sunlight was casting irregular pools of light into the room. Their 3DS’s were lost in the sheets somewhere and they were haphazardly sprawled on top of and underneath them, Rita snoring softly into Morticia’s hair as she held her close to her chest. For the first time in a long time Morticia just knew that she felt safe and she was desperate to cling to that reprieve for as long as possible.

But she knew, even in her dreams, that it wouldn’t last.

Today would be the day when she finally received her ‘Gift’, or more honestly, her curse.

It was something that had been occurring naturally in the Sanchez and then Smith family for countless generations with no reason or explanation. Every girl born in this lineage would experience a strange phenomena on their sixteenth birthday. Their minds and spirits essentially bloomed like flowers and opened them up to all manner of the supernatural. They became beacons for ghosts, angels, demons, whatever breed of celestial being that roamed the galaxy. They would be plagued with this clairvoyance for an entire year before the gift would manifest itself into something different and usually, more mundane. For example, Summer could predict the weather with amazing clarity. Beth was able to give simple yet accurate tarot readings, and Rita was able to see and communicate with spirits despite being well past her sixteenth birthday. 

To say that Morticia was terrified of receiving the Gift was an understatement - she was so horrified that she could feel the terror throb in her bones. She remembered when Summer went through it and in all honesty it was like living in a horror film for a year. She would randomly go into fits like she was in the throes of possession and talk incessantly about the disturbing ghosts she came into contact with on a regular basis. She would cry herself to sleep every night for the first six months until she became more adjusted to the psychological disturbances. Her physical and mental health deteriorated and she sank into a deep depression that the entire family was worried would become permanent. No amount of prescription medications, therapy, or near-constant doting could shake her out of it and Morticia worried that Summer would eventually put a gun to her head and end it.

But she didn’t - she survived, and came out immensely stronger on the other side. And with the ability to predict the weather, which was pretty convenient. Once the Gift devolved into that one trait she was her usual self again. She was no longer afflicted with seeing spirits and could not only function, but enjoy life again. As much as a moody teenager could enjoy life, anyway.

Morticia was scared that she wouldn’t be strong enough to survive the following year. Her physical strength was pretty formidable considering the ridiculous and dangerous escapades her grandmother dragged her along on but her mental strength? It was considerably weaker. There was the anxiety and the fear of failure and the ludicrously high standards she had for herself and honestly, her mind was just a clusterfuck. Adding constant assaults on her psyche by the supernatural was going to throw more stress onto her and most likely become an unbearable burden. 

She was so screwed.

Maybe her grandmother was right...she just shouldn’t think about it too much. But even in her dreams the dread was all-consuming and visions of her slowly and painfully losing her grip on her sanity and will to live filled her sleep. When she finally jerked awake she felt the onset of a panic attack starting to slide its invisible fingers tight about her throat. 

(Calm down.) She thought to herself as her eyes focused on the opposite wall. They intensely studied the video game and drum corp posters littering the space and she started aimlessly memorizing every detail of each of them. (Just calm down, Morti. If everyone else survived it, you will too. It’s going to be awful but...you got this. You can endure. If you can still function through all of the shit grandma Rita puts you through this should be easy. A breeze. Just super simple suffering.)

Encouraging mantras continued to play in her head until finally her hands and feet stopped feeling numb and her heart slowed down in its frantic beating. She squeezed her slightly burning eyes shut and willed herself to go back to sleep. If she was asleep she didn’t have to focus on her impending emotional apocalypse. Also, why not think about her birthday gifts? Her parents always spoiled her and Summer rotten when it came to their birthdays and holidays so some great presents would be a nice distraction. And if Rita had been so concerned that she had played Animal Crossing with her at four in the morning then surely she had concocted some kind of amazing invention for her. Then there was the delicious cake her mom would bake for her and dinner out at her choice of restaurant and all of the sweet birthday wishes she could receive on her various social media sites...

(Just don’t think about it.) She told herself as she buried her face in her pillow and tried to melt into the warmth of her grandmother pressed against her back. (Don’t think about it. Don’t even trip, dawg.)

Well...this was definitely going to be the shittiest birthday ever. But she would make a whole-hearted effort to enjoy it as best she could.


	2. "This Is The One Now. The Savior."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morticia enjoys her sixteenth birthday with dope presents and and good food. Everything is totally normal and she doesn't receive the Gift when the time of her birth comes and goes. Oh well, maybe she'll be normal after all...

“Morti, wake up Morti. It’s past noon, Morti!”

 

“Nnngghhh...f-five more minutes…”

 

“D-don’t make me drag you outta bed, Morti. We got birthday shenanigans to get into! Y-y-you really wanna spend your sixteenth birthday droolin’ into a pillow?”

 

“Yes...yes I do.”

 

Rita rolled her eyes, belching loudly and scratching her stomach. She approached the side of the bed, flung back the pastel pink comforter, snatched her granddaughter’s skinny ankles, and unceremoniously yanked her out of the bed and onto the floor.

 

“W-w-what the shit, Rita?!” Morticia yelled after her head hit the carpet. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head and glared up at her grandmother who was just standing there looking less than amused. 

 

“Look, I tried to get you up of your own volition but you didn’t wanna have it, so,” the genius scientist replied with an unconcerned shrug as she folded her arms across her chest. “Y-your parents and Summer are waiting for you downstairs. W-w-we got presents to open and cake to eat - all that superfluous shit. Get dressed and come on, would ya?”

 

Rita didn’t wait for a response, she just turned on her heel and exited the room. Morticia felt her eyes roll almost back into her skull at the realization that her suffering was about to begin but she managed to stand up and grab an outfit from her closet. She dressed slowly in a yellow cotton v-neck, distressed skinny jeans, and white Vans. When that chore was done she left her room and went to brush her teeth in the bathroom. Her reflection stared moodily back at her and she only glared back at it as she put anti-frizz mousse in her  brown ringlet curls and situated her red headband atop her scalp. She applied the usual amount of concealer underneath her eyes, used her favorite brand of mascara, and dusted some of that highlighting powder stuff that was so popular for some reason on her cheeks. 

 

“Alright, I-I guess I look...not like a complete wreck,” she remarked and forced herself to leave the bathroom and drag herself down the stairs. She found her family gathered in the living room and upon her entrance they all turned and greeted her enthusiastically.

 

“Happy birthday honey!” Beth exclaimed and scooped her up in a tight hug.

 

“How’s it feel to be a year older? One step closer to adulthood, huh?” Jerry asked as he came over and gently ruffled her hair. 

 

“It’s okay so far, I guess,” Morticia answered as her mother released her and smiled at her proudly. “C-can’t complain...at least not yet.”

 

Her parents exchanged a concerned glance that made her stomach drop. They all knew that in a little over two hours all of their lives would be drastically altered by her endowment with the Gift. But it wasn’t the time to think about that now - they had a celebration to enjoy.

 

“Hey, come open your presents nerd! I got you something really good this year since I actually have a good job,” Summer told her sister and patted the empty couch cushion beside her. Morticia nodded and quickly took the seat, gaze fixed on the large pile of presents stacked on the coffee table. 

 

“Uhhh...you guys really went all out this year, huh?” the brunette asked as Summer leaned forward and grabbed three sloppily wrapped presents from the pile. 

 

“Turning sixteen is a big deal, honey. Why not spend a little extra to make sure you’re happy?” Jerry said as he and Beth took their seats in the two empty armchairs on either side of the couch. 

 

“Yeah M-MOOuurrgh-ti, not like you’re gonna w-wanna put a gun to your head later. Gotta make up for that,” Rita snorted from her left, beer in hand and a bored expression on her face. 

 

“Mom!” Beth yelled with a glower.

 

“What? Just speakin’ the truth here. Open your presents Morti,” Rita ordered as she tilted her bottle towards the gift pile. Morticia discreetly elbowed her grandmother hard in the ribs as she gave Summer an appreciative smile and accepted the presents being offered to her.

 

The next twenty minutes consisted of her unwrapping her birthday gifts, giving profuse thanks, and laughing with her family. Summer hadn’t been kidding about her presents - she had bought Morticia the Naked palette she had been pining over for a few months since its release, a new make-up brush kit, and a new headband in a bright shade of pink. Her parents had gotten her the new Pokemon game, apocalypse version, and a new skin for her 3DS that displayed the new legendary Pokemon in glimmering shades of onyx and magenta. They had also gotten her the complete works of H.P Lovecraft, some new Xbox games, and a giftcard to Art Epicenter so she could get some new copics and sketchbooks. It was an impressive haul and she was so consumed with excitement for her new things that she forgot about the impending madness waiting to cast its net over her mind.

 

“You’ll get my present later,” Rita muttered in her ear after her last gift had been opened and Morticia found her cheeks blooming into red roses. She knew it was an innocent remark, but she couldn’t help but let her mind wander at the imaginative implications of the statement. She tried desperately to hide the sick crush she had on her grandmother but sometimes she felt like it was painfully obvious. 

 

“So what flavor of cake do you want darling?” Beth asked as she stood and clapped her hands, interrupting her daughter’s odd thoughts. “And where would you like us to take you to dinner? Do you want to go anywhere before then? Maybe the art store so you can use your giftcard?”

 

“O-oh! Um,” Morticia stumbled over her words for a second as she tried to get questionable images of her and her grandmother in compromising positions out of her head. “Well, I really like funfetti. A-and we can go to that Italian place that just opened up. I heard it was really good. But um...I’m okay with just hanging around until dinner.”

 

“Of course! You do whatever you want darling,” her mother told her with a gentle smile and she quickly hugged her again. “Jerry, come help me with the cake.” She looked at her husband pointedly and he scrambled to his feet.

 

“Yeah, sure! I can bake a mean cake,” he said, rubbing his hands together. Beth rolled her eyes and led them into the kitchen, leaving her children and mother sitting in the living room. Morticia knew deep in her gut that they were leaving to talk about her and the Gift but she refused to feel weird about it. 

 

“Welp, I’ll be back later,” Rita announced as she stood and let out a loud burp. 

 

“W-where are you going?” Morticia asked and looked up at her with wide eyes.

 

“Gotta run some errands so I can finish your gift. Don’t worry, I’ll be back before dinner.”

 

With that she left, tossing the empty beer bottle up and down in the air before catching it. Summer and Morticia watched her leave and sat in silence for a minute.

 

“Hey, do my makeup, would ya?” Summer asked her sister and studied the eyeshadow palette she had gotten her. “You’re way better at blending and picking shades than I am. And I’d like to not look like hell when we go out.”

 

“Sure! Let me uh, go grab my foundation and stuff. Be right back!”

 

Morticia ran out of the room and grabbed her large makeup bag from the vanity in her room. She dashed back into the living room and quickly picked out everything she needed to do Summer’s makeup. She excitedly opened up her new brush kit and got to work contouring her sister’s face with the expensive powders she had gathered over the years.

 

“Look, I know that you’re nervous about getting the Gift,” Summer spoke suddenly as she sat still with her eyes closed and hands folded in her lap. Morticia paused for a second before dabbing her brush in highlighting powder. 

 

“W-well yeah, it’s terrifying.”

 

“It is, no doubt. But...it’s not impossible to get through. I mean look at me! I freaking hate horror movies and shit but I was able to live through seeing all kinds of fucked up things. You will too, I promise.”

 

“I-I’m not so sure...I’m a wuss, Summer. I can barely handle the crap grandma puts me through. H-how am I gonna survive seeing demons and ghosts all the time?”

 

“You just learn to live with it. You get used to waking up with a crowd of spirits standing over your bed and whispering in your ear when you’re trying to get homework done. You get used to seeing dead, mangled corpses roaming the streets when you’re walking around. Stupid things don’t even realize they’re dead. You just get used to it, Morti. It’s not easy but...it’s manageable.”

 

“Oh geez...I don’t know. I’m just really scared. I don’t want to totally lose it, or y’know...go back to that,” Morticia said quietly and stared down at the pale scars forming a line down her arm. Summer put a comforting hand on her knee and did her best to give her a reassuring smile.

 

“We’re all here for you, sis. None of us are gonna let anything hurt you, okay?”

 

“Okay…”

 

Morticia finished Summer’s makeup and they admired her handiwork in the hallway mirror. She was radiant - her contour and black winged-eyeliner were flawless and the shade of taupe lipstick Morticia had picked for her natural look was absolutely perfect. Summer was kind of jealous of the kid’s skill with makeup but she couldn’t complain; she always jumped at the chance to practice on her sister’s face so at least she never had to worry about looking bad when she went out. 

 

For the rest of the afternoon Morticia sat on the couch and played the new Pokemon game, her worries and the dread pushed in a far-off room in the back of her brain. She was so distracted that she didn’t notice when the time of her birth was signaled by the clock, but in her defense no one else noticed either. It wasn’t until a little after five o’clock that Beth burst into the living room to check on her youngest daughter. To her surprise she was just laying on the couch feverishly playing her 3DS, her legs in Summer’s lap and holding up her arms while she texted. 

 

“Uh, Morti? It’s uh, it’s officially past your birthday! How are you feeling?” Beth asked as she approached the couch and wrung her hands nervously. Jerry soon entered after her and stood anxiously in the center of the room with wide eyes watching his daughter. 

 

“Huh? Oh, I-I feel fine. A little hungry but you know, it’s w-whatever,” Morticia answered as she remained glued to her game. In the few hours she had been playing she had manage to gather a pretty formidable beginning team and was getting ready to challenge the first gym leader. 

 

“So you’re not...seeing things?” Beth asked.

 

“What? No, I’m uh...just seeing the normal stuff mom.”

 

Summer looked up from her phone and stared at each of her parents in turn, who stared back. They were confused and a little worried but none of them really knew how to broach the subject. Just as Beth was about to express her worries Rita strode into the room with a disgusting belch.

 

“Where’s Morti? Oh, there you are. How’s it so far? How’s seeing dead people? Huh? Y-y-you enjoying the sixth sense?” Rita asked with an amused chuckle at her reference. Everyone except Morticia turned to inflict her with piercing stares and she cocked her eyebrow. “Uh, okay. W-w-what’s with the awkward vibe here?”

 

“Morti hasn’t changed,” Beth whispered to her mother. “She’s not seeing anything and it’s been what, a few hours since her actual birthday? Mom? What’s going on?”

 

“You’re not seeing a-any weird shit, Morti?” Rita loudly asked her granddaughter, who muttered something unintelligible and shook her head. “Huh...that’s weird.”

 

“That’s weird? That’s all you can say? What’s wrong with my daughter?” Jerry asked in a low voice, motioning at his child.

 

“How the hell should I know, Jerry?”

 

“Well why hasn’t she gotten the Gift yet? It doesn’t make any sense,” Beth interrupted and held her hands to her face with worry. “Has this happened before? I mean...is it possible that maybe she’s not going to get it?”

 

“I suppose it could skip a kid, but...that’s highly unlikely,” Rita told her and stared at her granddaughter with obvious concern on her face.

 

“W-w-why are you guys freaking out about this?” Morticia piped up suddenly, still sucked into her game. “Shouldn’t you be glad that I’m not...that I’m not gonna have to go through that stuff? Y’know, I-I think it’s a good thing. I just won’t get some weird power - who cares? I don’t. I can live with it.”

 

“I think it’s a good thing,” Summer said with a shrug as she returned to texting. “She gets to be the only normal person in this family.”

 

“Hey, I’m normal!” Jerry whined defensively. Everyone promptly ignored him.

 

“Maybe it’s just late, w-who knows. We’ll just keep an eye on her, see w-w-what develops,” Rita spoke and raked her fingers through her messy blue hair. “No need to get all screwed up about it.”

 

Morticia’s parents agreed with Rita and tried to relax about the situation. They decided to just continue the evening as normal and forced everyone into the family car (much to Rita’s irritation as she preferred to drive her own vehicle). Morticia got to control the radio and managed to get her family to sing along to cheesy and promiscuous pop songs on the way to the restaurant. Dinner went without a hitch and was delicious - the pizza they ordered was the perfect amount of greasy, heart-stopping goodness. The next stop was the art store, where Morticia stocked up on new micron pens, copics, and sketchbooks. When they finally returned home it was a little after nine o’clock and everything was still totally normal.

 

Beth ordered them all to take their usual seats at the dining room table and she brought out the two tier funfetti cake decorated in multicolored sprinkles and slices of strawberries. Morticia giggled as everyone sang Happy Birthday (even Rita joined in, much to her surprise) and Jerry took pictures as Beth sliced into the confection and passed around pieces to everyone. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed - something everyone was thankful for considering the amount of fighting that went down in the household.

 

After the cake was half-eaten and everyone was so stuffed they could barely move, they retreated into the living room and watched Summer and Morticia battle it out on the Xbox. Around eleven o’clock Jerry and Beth gave the birthday girl tight hugs and kisses on the top of the head and left to bed. Summer followed not soon after, complaining about having to be up before ten so she could get to work on time. So it was just Morticia and Rita sitting on the couch, watching as Morticia fought against virtual enemies in the first person shooter.

 

“So uh...when do I get my gift?” Morticia asked after a few minutes of silence. She side-eyed her grandmother and watched as she pulled out her flask from her lab coat pocket and took a swig. 

 

“Y-you don’t need it right now,” the scientist told her and emitted a soft burp. “You haven’t gotten the Gift yet so I’ll just h-hang onto it.”

 

“Do you...do you think I’m gonna get it?”

 

“Who knows? You might, you might not. A-anything is possible in this clusterfuck of an existence. J-just gonna throw this out there...don’t think about it.”

 

“Oh geez, grandma.”

 

Another hour passed before Morticia’s eyelids were so heavy that she couldn’t continue to keep them open. She was swaying a little from her place on the edge of the couch and her grandmother was holding back amused snickers at her. Finally the old woman stood, turned off the TV and game system, and towered over her sleepy granddaughter.

 

“Bed time, Morti. Y-y-you can barely stay awake. And you didn’t get much sleep last night. C’mon, let’s go,” Rita ordered and gently pulled the sixteen year old to her feet. She followed her up the stairs and upon entering her bedroom changed into a pair of pajamas while Rita used the bathroom. Morticia collapsed onto her bed haphazardly covered in mismatched blankets and stuffed animals and stared up at her speckled ceiling.

 

To her relief, her birthday had actually been just fine. And now there was a chance that she wasn’t even going to become afflicted with that supernatural bullshit! This was a hundred better times better than what she could have asked for. 

 

“Good night, you lil’ shit,” Rita murmured as she walked into the room and stood over the bed, leaning against the wall. She gazed down at her yawning granddaughter and bent down to press a tender kiss to her forehead. Morticia felt herself freeze up at the touch and she gripped the blanket as the sinful thoughts about her grandmother from earlier surged back to the forefront of her mind. Rita pulled away a little bit and Morticia’s breath caught in her throat as the old woman’s lips brushed against her own on the way to her right cheek.

 

Morticia wanted to wrap her arms around her grandmother’s neck and yank her down to smash their lips together. God, she just wanted to taste her and melt into her skin. Now  _ that _ was what Rita should give her as a birthday present - physical affection that crossed what was appropriate for family members to display. But after a few blessed seconds Rita was straightening herself and wondering why Morticia’s face was such a violent shade of red. 

 

“G-good night grandma Rita! I-I’ll see ya tomorrow,” the teenager stammered and laughed nervously before burying herself under the covers. 

 

“Sure, kid.”

 

She listened as her grandmother clicked her bedroom light off and closed the door behind her. Her heart was threatening to burst from its ivory cage and she squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she having these thoughts about her grandmother? Oh god...she was so screwed up…

 

Her thoughts and worries spiraled about in her head like a twister forming but within a few minutes she was falling deep into the much needed embrace of slumber. 

 

\---

 

_ This is the one now. The savior. _

 

_ It has been too long. There are so many of us now. When will it wake up? _

 

_ I ache...the agony is unbearable...please put me to rest. _

 

_ Please help us - _

 

Morticia’s eyes flew wide open and she stared into the darkness as she tried to figure out where those voices were coming from. Were they in her dream? Must be, it was silent now. She readjusted her position and sighed heavily before closing her eyes and trying to go back to sleep.

 

_ Devour its soul and free yourself! _

 

_ Rip its limbs off. Make it suffer just as we have! _

 

_ Eviscerate the savior. We shall feast on its entrails and grow stronger - _

 

Morticia flew upwards in bed, chest heaving and breath coming in ragged gasps. Had she fallen asleep again that quickly? No...something wasn’t right. She realized suddenly that her room was unnaturally cold and despite her sudden fear and reservations she left her bed and quickly switched on her overhead light.

 

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

 

The scream exploded forth from her small frame as she slammed her back against her bedroom door. Her room was crowded with horrifying nightmare creatures and they were all staring at her with bright red eyes. Some appeared human but with missing limbs or gouged out eyes or ripped open stomachs with organs spilling out. Others looked like monsters that had crawled straight out of an eldritch chasm - impossibly sharp teeth, hooked talons, leathery black flesh, staring, burning eyes all over their bodies. Their voices were loud and grating in her ears and she desperately wanted to run away but she couldn’t - her body was frozen in place. 

 

The nightmare abominations started advancing on her, brandishing their twisted limbs and bleeding from their mouths. Vomit threatened to shoot from her mouth as every bone in her body trembled and she wondered what the hell she was supposed to do - 

 

Well. Looks like she had gotten the Gift after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is a bit all over the place - I've been writing it off and on all day between running errands and working on commissions. Anyway, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed and look forward to the next update!


	3. "Happy Fucking Birthday, Morticia. Your Life Has Gone To Shit."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morticia endures her first experience with the spirits and gets a swanky new accessory.

Her eyelids fluttered open like tired butterflies and she gazed upwards, expecting to see her speckled ceiling and fan whirring in gentle circles. Instead it was just white that glowed slightly and never seemed to end. A grunt escaped her as she pushed herself up onto her elbows and then into a sitting position. Her hand rubbed the back of her aching head as she gazed about and found that she was alone in a pure white room. There was no furniture, nothing decorating the walls, no other living creatures sharing the space with her.

 

“W-where am I?” Morticia whispered to herself as she forced herself to stand. Her arms crossed her chest and hands gripped the opposite limb as she took a few shaky steps forwards. Her footsteps echoed loud into the silence of the room and it startled her. She came to stand in the center of the area and felt sick with worry and confusion. What had happened? She had just been in her room trying to sleep when - 

 

It all hit her directly in the face.

 

She had finally gotten the Gift after she had gone to bed. And she had kept waking up because of disturbing whispers and hisses entering her ears. When she had decided to investigate she discovered her room full of horrific nightmare creatures intent on murdering her and then...nothing. She was here now, wherever ‘here’ was.

 

Morticia wrapped her arms about herself and squeezed her slightly burning eyes shut, willing her stomach to stop tying itself in nervous knots. Was she in a dream, or had the spirits whisked her away to somewhere in oblivion? Her mind raced with fears about what would possibly happen to her and she was on the verge of doubling over and vomiting when a familiar voice suddenly broke the silence.

 

“It is okay, Morticia. You are safe here.”

 

Morticia whirled around and saw her grandmother standing a few feet away, facing the wall. She stared at the back of her head and her messy lab coat and felt a little better but...something was off. Grandma Rita rarely called her by her full name but...maybe it was nothing. It was just a name, after all.

 

“Grandma Rita?” the brunette asked and took a tentative step towards her. She peered at her grandmother and briefly wondered why she wouldn’t turn to face her. 

 

“It is okay, Morticia. You are safe here,” Rita spoke again and Morticia felt a chill run down her spine. Her voice had the same timbre and tone but there was something strange about it, something distorted, almost electronic. 

 

“Rita, what are you talking about? W-where are we, and w-w-what’s going on?”

 

“It is okay, Morticia. You are safe here,” a different voice spoke in tandem with her grandmother and the teenager whirled around. Beth was standing before the wall opposite her also facing away. 

 

“This is w-wrong, w-what the hell is happening here?” Morticia whispered to herself as she took a few steps back into the center of the room. The sterilized whiteness of the walls and floor was starting to hurt her eyes and there was a dull ache throbbing painfully in the back of her head. Fear was curling up inside the pit of her stomach and she found herself trembling slightly. 

 

“It is okay, Morticia. You are safe here,” three voices announced and a twirl to the left presented her father also facing the wall like the others. 

 

“It is okay, Morticia. You are safe here.”

 

Four voices rang out this time and Morticia forced herself to turn around once again and she found Summer facing the final wall. They looked normal from behind but a sinking feeling in Morticia’s stomach told her that they were fucked up - this was not her family.

 

“Can someone please tell me w-what the fuck is going on?!” she screamed out, hands clawing at the sides of her head. 

 

“ **_It is okay, Morticia. You are safe here_ ** !”

 

“S-shut the fuck up! A-a-all of you!”

 

“ _ Morti _ !”

 

“Rita?” Morticia sniveled, lowering her hands as tears slid down her red cheeks. She gazed up at the ceiling as her fake family continued their mantra in lifeless voices.

 

“ _ Yeah Morti it’s me, listen! Those freaks down there with you th-they’re fucked up, Morti. Y-y-you can’t let them bite you. It’ll kill you, Morti. _ ”

 

“ **WHAT** ?!”

 

“ _ They’re doppelgangers. They’ll s-steal your soul, Morti. Your life essence. The s-shit that makes us human and s-sentient. Y-y-you can’t let them touch you. Here, I got somethin’ for ya hold on-” _

 

It was then that a double-barrel blaster materialized in the air above her head and fell into her scrambling hands. Morticia stared, confused and overwhelmed at the bulky weapon she was gripping so tightly her knuckles were shot white. 

 

“Rita? Where are you? W-what’s going on?” she called up to the gently illuminated ceiling. 

 

“ _ I’m in reality, Morti. Y-you’ve been forced into the spiritual realm. Look, w-we can discuss this later y-you gotta kill the doppelgangers now. Before they kill you first!” _

 

Morticia had almost forgotten about the strange caricatures of her family surrounding her but when she returned her attention back to them she found that they had moved closer to her. She gathered up her strength and resolve and turned slowly, trying to figure out who to target first and anticipate how they might attack her. Right when she faced the screwed up version of her grandmother the air in front of her seemed to glitch and the doppelganger was standing a breath away from her face. Morticia couldn’t help the terrified scream that burst from her mouth and she stumbled backwards slightly.

 

The fake Rita didn’t have a face - it was just an open cavity full of blood-caked teeth that seemed to spiral into a void. Morticia jerked her head about and saw that everyone else’s faces were the same. Rivers of blood poured from the gaping orifices and stained their chests and they were stalking closer and closer to her -

 

“ ** _It IS 0k_** **Ay morT** IC1a _. y0u ar3_ **SAfe** ** _heR3_**.”

 

She squeezed the trigger of the blaster and powerful twin plasma streams shot from the barrels and struck the Rita copy directly in the chest. The burst tore straight through the flesh and bone and sent strings of sinew and globs of blood flying everywhere. A horrific, grating scream filled the air as the doppelganger collapsed to its knees. Despite the terror pounding in every artery and vein in her body she squeezed off another round straight into its head. 

 

Blood and teeth flew through the space between them but it didn’t faze her when both struck her. There was a sudden resolve blooming in her chest and she refused to let these fuckers kill her. 

 

The Gift wasn’t going to destroy her.

 

Morticia dropped to her knees when the remaining three doppelgangers lunged at her in tandem and she jumped forwards beneath their writhing bodies and whirled on her heel. She aimed at the Beth copy and blew out its middle before annihilating its head. The Summer and Jerry copies seemed to regard each other for a second before facing her and making desperate leaps to snatch her up. She managed to dodge their suddenly thin, impossibly long arms but the talons on Summer’s hand ripped through her right shoulder blade.

 

The pain was searing and hot but all she could do was grit her teeth and spin around, blaster aimed at the doppelganger’s gnawing cavity and shooting off another round. The corpse collided with the Jerry copy and she took its second of distraction to blow its head clear off its shoulder in a flash of yellow light. 

 

The teenager slumped against the closest wall as her lungs fought for air. Apparently she had forgotten to breathe throughout that entire confrontation and now her knees were buckling beneath her and she was slamming against the disgusting floor. Her wide mahogany eyes stared at the gore she had created as her mind tried to process the fact that she had killed them without incident. The wounds on her shoulder cried for her attention but she ignored them because her grandmother was speaking to her again.

 

“ _ Holy shit Morti, that was dope! Okay y-you gotta get back. There should be a door somewhere now but you gotta...gotta find the key. Might uh, have to dig around in those bodies a little…” _

 

“For fuck’s sake,” Morticia grumbled as she lunged to her aching feet, dragging the blaster up with her. She noticed that there was indeed now a door on the opposite wall with a small, nondescript keyhole in its center. Cringing, she bent down and started inspecting the bloody remains. As soon as her skin came into contact with the flesh of the nearest corpse everything seemed to glitch again and the bodies were replaced with small piles of inky black tar. She screeched and jumped backwards at sudden change and she held the blaster close to her chest for comfort.

 

“W-w-what the fuck is this?!”

 

“ _ G-grow a pair of ovaries, Morti, and get in there! You don’t have a w-whole lot of time here!” _

 

“This is bullshit Rita! I-I don’t even understand what’s going on here!”

 

“ _ Morticia. You have about five minutes to find that fucking key and get the fuck out of there. I-if you don’t make it you’re gonna be trapped in limbo for eternity. Y-y-you want that, Morti? Wanna be stuck in some oblivion for the rest of your fucking life?!” _

 

“Alright, I get it! F-fuck dude, I’m going,” Morticia exclaimed, exasperated as she braced herself and set to trudging through the strangely warm piles of tar. It clung to her skin and clothes and she was scared that something awful was going to fling itself from the liquid and attack her. Sweat trailed in thin rivers down her grimy cheeks as she dug frantically through the tar, scrambling to find the key.

 

“ _ Hurry the fuck up, Morti! Y-you only got a minute left! _ ”

 

“ **FUCK!** Fuck, fuck fuck fuck!” Morticia hissed through gritted teeth as the adrenaline and fear spiked her bloodstream. Everything was starting to melt a little at the edges like wet paints dripping down a canvas. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, her fingers wrapped around something small and metal. She yanked it out from the grime and held it triumphantly up in the air with a loud cheer. With the final seconds ticking down she slipped and slid through the tar until she was jamming the disgusting key in the lock and turning it - 

 

The door swung open on its own and a blinding white light crashed down on her like a tidal wave. She squinted into the light as tears fell from her eyes and then it all started glitching, glitching,  _ glitching,  _ **_glitCH1nG_ ** -

 

\---

 

Morticia flew upwards in bed with a scream caught in her throat like a clenched fist. Her lungs fought for air as her eyes darted about the room. She was back in her bedroom but there were no eldritch abominations towering over her - just her grandmother sitting on the mattress beside her with an expression of concern and anger on her tired face. Without a single thought she latched onto her grandmother and buried her head in her chest as long-built up sobs tore through her shaking body. 

  
  


“Y-you’re safe now, Morti. Just try to relax baby, it’s okay,” Rita murmured as she cradled her granddaughter close. This was just like watching a shitty movie on repeat - she had been through this herself, watched her daughter go through it, and then her eldest granddaughter, and now the youngest. Just over and over - a never ending curse.

 

“I-I-I can’t handle this, Rita. I-I’m not strong enough,” Morticia said through the hiccups and tears. She tilted her head back and looked into her grandmother’s eyes with fear blazing brightly in her own. Rita twisted her lips and wove thin fingers through her curls and yanked a little so her granddaughter’s head was off of her body.

 

“Shut up, M-Morti. You were just strong enough to g-get your way out of that bullshit, right? Y-y-you really think you still aren’t capable of getting through this? Fucking bullshit, Morti. You can do this,” Rita said sternly and glared down into her granddaughter’s stunned face. After a few seconds of glowering she released her hair and placed a comforting hand on her warm cheek slick with tears. “L-listen though, I g-gave you your birthday present. Had to skip out earlier to get the rest of the stuff to make it but...I-I think you’ll like it.”

 

Morticia felt one eyebrow slide up her forehead in confusion but her grandmother only smiled a little and gently nudged her in the direction of the floor length mirror propped up against the far wall. She climbed out of bed on shaky legs and studied her haggard looking reflection. At first she couldn’t see what was different but then her eyes arrived at her face and she saw the headband gracing her scalp.

 

She could tell it was handcrafted by the elegant stitches and little artistic flair present in all of Rita’s creations. The band itself was shimmering black that seemed to be dotted with tiny stars and in the center was a large fluorescent green bow with a hot pink pearl in the center of the knot. She raised fingers to her head and brushed her fingertips against the material. There was a weird power emanating from it in slow waves and it made her withdraw her hands to her chest.

 

“W-w-why this?” she asked in a confused whisper, eyes locked with her reflection’s. 

 

“It’s a prototype, something I’ve been working on for a couple of years now,” Rita explained as she joined her granddaughter, left hand digging in her lab coat pocket for her beloved flask. “I-it keeps the spirits away. Temporarily of course - that shit can’t be perm-per, forever, y-y’know? It’s effects will disappear after about eight hours I think. Don’t worry though! A-after another eight hours it’ll be good to go again. I-it’s weird supernatural bullshit Morti, I’m not gonna show you the math here. Just know that all of those materials work in different ways to repel the spirits. Pretty fucking cool, right?”

 

“Uh-huh,” Morticia spoke flatly, wondering why the hell the headband had to be so tacky. It was so...scene. 

 

“Well, if you wanna get some sleep y-you should probably get on it,” Rita advised her after drinking heavily from her flask and belching loudly. “W-we got a lot of shit to deal with in the morning.”

 

“I can’t sleep! W-what if I get thrown into some weird...doppelganger bullshit again?” Morticia exclaimed, whirling around to face her grandmother.

 

“Morti. Listen. We’ll discuss it in the morning, o-OOO-kay?” the old woman said with a burp. She put a hand on Morticia’s slumped shoulder and steered her back to the bed. “I-I’m gonna go tell your parents and sister that you’re okay and that everything is gonna be ju-ust fine. Okay? Couldn’t let them in here while I was monitoring you...coulda been real dangerous, and annoying. Anyway, sleep time.”

 

Completely numb and confused beyond comprehension, the sixteen year old slid into bed, buried herself under the covers, and stared up at the ceiling. 

 

“Will you...will you sleep with me then?” she whispered hoarsely and afflicted her grandmother with pleading eyes. The old woman sighed but couldn’t say no - she knew her granddaughter needed to feel safe and honestly, she was the only person that could really help and protect her. 

 

“Fine...just don’t drool on me,” Rita grumbled as she stripped off her lab coat. Morticia averted her gaze with a blush as her grandmother continued complaining under her breath while removing her khaki skirt and aqua v-neck. Down to a pair of faded black boyshorts and black camisole she joined her granddaughter in the too-small bed. 

 

A thin, strong arm wrapped about Morticia’s middle and pulled her close to a soft chest and warm stomach. She squeezed her eyes shut and steadied her breathing to Rita’s as her mind eventually shut down.

 

_ Happy fucking birthday, Morticia. Your life has gone to shit. At least Rita’s here...at least you can enjoy this a little and pretend like when you wake up everything's gonna be normal. Maybe, just…? _

 

_ Don’t think about it.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking forever to update - life has been pretty hectic lately. Enjoy! I'll try to update again soon!


	4. "She's a Beacon for the Damned."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morticia overhears some unsettling thoughts from her family and finds herself in a mysterious graveyard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update - I've been extremely sick for over a month now and writing has been on the back burner. As always enjoy, and come bother me on Tumblr at my sinning blog, empyreal-miasma, or my main at mothercthulhu!

There was a deep, throbbing ache in the back of her skull that roused her from her fitful slumber. When she finally dragged her eyes open with the heels of her hands she was assaulted by the memories of the previous night. Bile rose up her throat and she choked back the urgent need to vomit. Instead she rolled out of bed and made a mad dash to the bathroom.

 

As soon as she slammed the door behind her she ran the sink full of cold water and dunked her burning face beneath the chilly surface. It was refreshing at first and she wondered if she could drown herself, but after she ran out of air she yanked her head up and realized she didn’t have the ovaries to kill herself off. She caught her breath back while rubbing the scratchy hand towel over her cheeks.

 

“Everything is bullshit,” she whispered to herself as she turned her attention to her wide eyed reflection. The skin beneath her eyelids was a smokey gray and there were indents in her right cheek from where she had slept on her blanket weird. Her curls were messy and haphazard and framing her head like a chestnut halo. Were her cheeks sunken in?! From just one night of bad sleep - oh wait no. Strands of hair. God, had the Gift made her dumber?

 

She looked awful and her teeth ground together as her gaze turned to the shower. Obviously bathing would make her feel better, but...her fingers drifted up to the gaudy headband atop her scalp. If she took it off the spirits would appear and the last thing she wanted was to be trapped in the shower with them. That was a D-List horror movie scenario just waiting to happen. Well...fuck it.

 

Five minutes later she was slumped against the shower wall with half-washed hair and pomegranate body wash congealing on her skin. The weird,magical headband was still in her hair and she had been hoping that its effects wouldn’t wash off or anything, but those worries had vanished the second she pressed her face against the shower wall out of exhaustion and immediately passed out. She only woke up when the water grew cold and she snorted some of it on accident.

 

Drying off was a struggle. Going back to her bedroom to put clean clothes on was a struggle. Actually pulling on the clothes was a struggle. Dragging her feet downstairs to grab something to drink was a struggle. 

 

Her footsteps faltered when she entered the living room and saw it empty, and when she crept into the dining room and found that it was deserted as well. But hushed voices could be heard from the kitchen and when she heard her name she paused just beside the threshold and strained her ears.

 

“It was weird, like...f-fucked up,” Rita said in her low, gravelly voice. 

 

“Weird how?” Beth asked with concern and confusion evident in her tone.

 

“These wraiths usually appear naturally, y’know? Y-y-you remember when you had the Gift? You only saw them outside, right? Because your house wasn’t...wasn’t haunted or shit. Summer, you know what I’m talkin’ about right? They show up where they were killed or they were drifting around, sometimes they might visit but just to look. O-observe. Maybe mumble out some supernatural bullshit. But what happened with Morti...never seen it before.”

 

“Okay well what does that mean for our daughter?” Jerry hissed crossly and Morticia could imagine everyone rolling their eyes at his anger.

 

“It means there’s something different about her,  _ Jerry _ ,” Rita sneered and beyond the wall Morticia’s heart managed to stop and drop into her stomach at the same time. What the hell did that mean? Different could mean literally anything; what was wrong with her?

 

“What do you mean, Grandma Rita?” Summer asked quietly and Morticia dug her trembling fingers into her stomach.

 

“She’s like a beacon for the damned. L-like a supernatural lighthouse or something. They’re drawn to her like moths to a flame. She’s got something they want, but...I have no clue what it is. A-a-and I don’t have a clue how to stop or control them.”

 

“Wait Mom, you know our family’s history with the Gift. Something like this must have happened somewhere in our lineage, right?”

 

“N-not that I know of, sweetie. It’s been awhile since I studied the records but I-I’m pretty sure I would remember if something like this popped up before.”

 

“What’s going to happen to our daughter? Are they going to try to kill her, or suck her soul out, or -”

 

“For f-fuck’s sake, Jerry. Put out the fire on your balls would you? She’s gonna be fine! Just fine. I’ll figure this out. And wraiths don’t suck human souls - that’s just shitty horror movie propaganda.”

 

“Those things attacked my sister! Shouldn’t we try to figure out how to protect her? Or stop them?!”

 

“None of y-you would be able to fight those things, Summer. Your Gift has faded away into something different than the Sight. You can’t fight what you can’t see.”

 

“But you can stop them, right mom? Since you…?”

 

“Like I said earlier I’ve got this. Don’t worry about it, don’t think about it. Just act like nothing is wrong and I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

 

“Yeah let’s just pretend none of this is happening and Morti isn’t plagued with ghosts trying to kill her,” Jerry replied sarcastically and Morticia heard him stomp through the kitchen like a petulant child.

 

She couldn’t listen to the conversation anymore and she was sure her family would exit the kitchen soon and the last thing she wanted was for them to find out she had been listening in. Her feet, numb like the rest of her extremities, led her into the living room and she fell onto the couch. Her hand grabbed the remote and turned on the television and she channel surfed aimlessly as a hundred different thoughts and worries swirled violently around in her brain. 

 

“Hey, Morti! How ya feelin’ today?” Rita asked suddenly as she strolled into the room and collapsed onto the couch beside her. There was only a sliver of room between them and for some reason having her close enough to feel her body heat and smell her floral perfume made her feel safe. 

 

“Not so good,” the teenager mumbled as her left hand twitched. The skin of their pinkies were brushing up against the other’s and she just wanted to lace their digits together. “I-I’m scared, Rita. What happened last night was scary as fuck, y’know? I-I-I don’t know if I can go through that again.”

 

“You’ll be able to handle it,” Rita told her as she dug her flask out of one of her numerous lab coat pockets. She took a long swig and let out a throaty belch. “W-we already talked about this, Morti. You’re stronger than you think you are. And you have me, so that’s a huge advantage.”

 

“Well, what’s gonna happen when I have to take this thing off?” Morticia asked as she lifted her hands to the still damp headband. “Are they gonna, gonna come after me again?”

 

“Probably,” the old woman said with a shrug, not bothering to wipe the acidic-looking green dribble from her bottom lip and chin. “But I got a plan, Morti. A good plan. Gonna get some answers, kick some ass. Don’t even trip dawg, we got this.”

 

“I-I’m not convinced,” Morticia sighed and leaned forward to bury her face in her hands. This was such a clusterfuck. Why did this have to happen to her? Why did she have to ‘different’ like some idiot protagonist in a dystopian novel, or a cartoon character in an AU fanfiction? She just wanted to be normal. She bet the other Mortys and Morticia’s didn’t have to go through this bullshit…

 

“Speaking of your spirit friends, you’re gonna need to take that headband off in a few minutes.”

 

“ _ What _ ?! Already?!” Morticia shrieked and flung her head up to stare at her grandmother in complete horror.

 

“It’s almost been eight hours, M-morti. Gotta put it in the chamber to charge it. We might as well just go put it up and get it over with. See what we can get done.”

 

“God, just f-fuck it Rita,” Morticia mumbled. She felt defeated and utterly miserable. “Let’s just get this over with. Since I gotta deal with this for a year. M-might as well get used to it.”

 

“That’s the spirit! C’mon Morti!” Rita spoke a little too enthusiastically and snatched her granddaughter’s hand, dragging her to the garage. 

 

When they entered Rita kicked the door closed and crossed to the far wall. Morticia stood with slumped shoulders and tired eyes and watched as her grandmother removed a large whiteboard full of complicated equations from the concrete. Behind it was a large crimson button and she jabbed it with her knuckles. Morticia jumped back when the floor began to shake and then retracted to reveal a staircase leading down into the earth.

 

“C’mon Morti. Got everything we need down here,” Rita said and ushered for her to descend the stairs. Morticia gulped hard and shakily climbed down the spiral staircase until she entered a large subterranean lair. 

 

“Rita, w-what is this place?”

 

“Eh, needed some extra space. The garage ain’t big enough for all the shit I get up to, Morti,” the scientist explained as the floor (now ceiling) slid back to its original position. “Also, it’s nice to have a place to get away from you a-annoying fucks.”

 

“Geez, thanks.”

 

In the center of the lair was a large glass table covered in various papers and small inventions and empty wine bottles. Two leather couches sat on opposite sides of the table and underneath was an ornate blue rug. One wall was covered in huge test tubes, some with strange alien creatures hibernating inside and others just full of glowing neon liquid. Another wall was hosting an entire armory of weapons, some she recognized as Rita’s design. The final wall was hidden behind three mahogany bookcases crammed full of books and a few eccentric objects that were definitely not of this galaxy. Soft white light shone from the ceiling and the smell of lavender was permeating the dead underground air.

 

“Alright Morti, here we go!” Rita announced, ripping her from her trance. Morticia joined her at the table and saw that she had tossed aside papers and bottles to reveal a black box with a pulsating emerald gripped in its center. She could hear strange, unintelligible whispers exuding from the gem and there were thin black tendrils floating across its every surface.

 

“What the fuck,” Morticia said flatly and Rita snorted while checking some of the bottles for any leftover dregs of alcohol.

 

“It’s an eldritch crystal, Morti. Y-y-you can’t just find these in the wild, Morti. Only one person can make them so it’s incredibly rare! Cost me alot, Morti. But it’s okay because this baby charges whatever you put on it with supernatural energy! I-it’s science and magic forced together, Morti! But it works. I-i-it works.”

 

“Where did you get this?” Morticia asked, eyes glued to the crystal.

 

“I uh...well I’m friends with the uh, chick that can make these things. We uh...go way back. She actually helped make that headband b-but whatever! Not gonna worry about my many acquaintances right now,” Rita laughed as she swallowed the stale remains of a random bottle. Morticia rolled her eyes at the less than informative explanation. She honestly didn’t want to know.

 

“Time’s runnin’ out, Morti. Ready to see some freaky, fucked up spirits?”

 

Morticia looked up into her grandmother’s face; that shit-eating grin, those piercing cerulean eyes. A sigh puffed out of her mouth and she nodded slowly before wrapping her fingers around the headband, pulling it off, and setting it gingerly on the crystal. Green light shot out from the crystal and wrapped about the accessory in an electric crackling of the air around them.

 

Knots wound themselves up tight in Morticia’s stomach as disturbing, grating whispers began drifting into her ears and horribly mangled wraiths started twisting up from the floor. Her heart was beating so hard she was sure it was going to explode and she clamped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt ice-cold air brush up against her skin and there was vomit boiling in her stomach, threatening to climb up her throat.

 

“It’s gonna be okay, Morti,” Rita’s low, comforting voice spoke through the cacophony of whispers. Morticia became aware of her bony fingers wrapped around her upper arms and squeezing gently. Her chapped lips were touching her forehead and whispering reassuring words. “Y-you’ll get through this, Morti. Just let it happen, o-okay? Try to relax. It’ll be okay.”

 

After a minute her words became distorted and started drifting into oblivion and when she opened her eyes everything was white, just like it had been before. She was alone and too scared to move and god, why the hell was this happening to her? Were fucked up versions of her family going to appear and try to kill her again?

 

She turned slowly and was surprised to find a nondescript wooden door against the far wall. Something tugged inside her, telling her to go through it. So she forced her heavy feet to cross the white nothingness and without a second thought she twisted the handle and entered somewhere entirely new.

 

At first she didn’t have an inkling of an idea where she was, but after studying her surroundings for a moment she realized she was in a graveyard of sorts. There was a crumbling cobblestone path beneath her feet and it felt like fall with the smell of dry leaves tickling her nose. It appeared that she was in the middle of an endless forest and she briefly wondered what lay beyond it until her attention returned to the graveyard. The trees were impossibly tall and covered in leaves in various shades of orange, yellow, and red. The only source of light came from the moon which hung above and seemed so close to the earth that she was scared it may crash through the atmosphere.

 

“Better move,” she whispered to herself in an attempt to boost her confidence.

 

Morticia walked slowly down the path and gazed at all of the strange headstones on either side of the cobblestone. Every headstone featured a human atop a carved epitaph. There were women, children, men, teenagers...it was so eerie. From what she could see the cemetery stretched on forever and she felt like every single one of the stone people were watching her every move. She seemed to be catching whispers in foreign languages but every time she looked around there were no sentient beings. She resolved to just stare straight ahead and not look at the headstones anymore.

 

After a few minutes of walking the cobblestones ended, buried in the dark grass. She was in a clearing of sorts with enormous marble pillars lining the area. Her eyes widened when she saw the aged marble doors of what appeared to be a church about ten feet ahead of her - all towering spires and long windows and moss growth creeping all along the stone from neglect.

 

“This is so fucking weird-”

 

“Morti! There you are!”

 

Morticia let loose a startled shriek and whirled around, finding her grandmother exiting the path with flask in hand. It had been completely silent until she spoke and it scared the ever loving shit out of her.

 

“R-rita? W-w-what are you doing here?!”

 

“I have the Sight, Morti. I can tread where spirits roam. Wherever you can go, I can go too,” the old woman explained with a nonchalant shrug. A thousand questions were on the tip of Morticia’s tongue but they were swallowed up when her grandmother strode past her to the church doors. “C’mon, Morti. There are some people in here we gotta, gotta talk to.”

 

She turned to face her granddaughter and upon seeing her distraught expression she offered a reassuring smile and an open hand. Morticia took a deep breath, balled up her fists in determination, and took her grandmother’s hand. The decrepit stone doors slowly slid open and they stepped inside. 

**Author's Note:**

> I woke up this morning to use the bathroom and for some reason the idea for this fic kicked me in the teeth and wouldn't stop assaulting me until I wrote this first chapter. I'm obsessed with horror and gore so naturally a paranormal AU full of terrifying weirdness was bound to happen. Anyway, thanks for reading! Come bother me on Tumblr at empyreal-miasma and give me writing/drawing requests!


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